Little Things
by DinoDina
Summary: Jack's being suspiciously gentlemanly, and even though he's flattered, Ianto's confused. Then he catches up. Janto oneshot, slash and fluff. (Happy birthday, Ianto!)


**I completely forgot it was Ianto's birthday... then I remembered... then I wrote this. _But_ it's still August 19 (barely) where I am, so it's fine. (It's also the anniversary of my first Torchwood fic, also about Ianto's birthday, on Ianto's birthday - I'm so creative). And thanks to Rachel for betaing this.**

 **Words: 1295**

 **Anyway (because let's be real, nobody reads these things):**

 **HAPPY 33ND BIRTHDAY, IANTO JONES!**

Ianto, his eyes still closed, heard his alarm clock, and subsequently Jack getting out of bed. Instinctively, he burrowed further under the blanket, despite knowing that Jack would throw the curtains open. With the morning light seeping into the room, he wouldn't be able to sleep, and would get up almost immediately. He braced himself from the coming onslaught of sunlight, only to hear Jack leave the room.

With one arm, Ianto moved the blanket from over his eyes. He looked around blearily, and, sure enough, the curtains were closed and Jack was almost out the door.

"Where're you"—yawn—"going?"

"Nowhere." Jack came back and covered him with the blanket again. "But you can sleep in today; boss's orders."

Ianto smiled and did just that; it had been a long night, and for once, he wouldn't argue against more sleep, even a little bit.

.oOo.

After a homemade breakfast—which Jack usually didn't bother with so much—Jack drove himself and Ianto into the Hub.

He insisted on holding the car door for Ianto when he got in… and when he got out. And the tourist office door. And on letting him into the main Hub first.

If Ianto didn't think it would mark him as certifiable, he would have been prepared to swear in a court of law that Jack had bowed at least three times just that morning-oh, make that four times.

Jack bowed—he definitely did this time—as he left Ianto at the coffee machine and went into his office.

.oOo.

"Ianto?"

"Yes?" Ianto turned around from the threshold of Jack's office, having just deposited the man's morning coffee.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Ianto?"

He rolled his eyes. Slightly confused and more than a bit exasperated, Ianto raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Jack?"

"You're pretty." Jack smiled. His eyes down Ianto's body appreciatively before coming back up and stopping at his face. "You're really pretty. Beautiful, even if that's 'girly', because you are."

"I—um. Thank you, Jack."

Even more confused but a lot less exasperated, Ianto left the office, smiling.

.oOo.

Ianto looked up from the book he was reading as the bell over the tourist office door rang. His eyes widened and he considered reaching for his gun when the flowers—wildflowers and garden flowers, garish and enormous—spoke.

"...for a Mr. Jones?"

Alright, so it hadn't been the flowers. Ianto smiled at the petite delivery woman. "That would be me, but are you sure there's no mistake?"

"No mistake, sir." She grinned, standing straighter, having previously been intimidated. "If you'd just sign here?"

Ianto signed as told.

"Where should I put them?"

"Oh, just…" Ianto waved his arm helplessly. "Just, on the floor? Not going to fit on the desk, and that's the only thing in here. Yeah, floor's good."

The girl left after helping him move the flowers so they didn't block anyone's way. Alone again, Ianto stared at the gift. The handwriting on the card was familiar, if only because he had to forge it on paperwork; Jack had obviously sent him flowers.

The question was _why?_

.oOo.

Jack trailed into the tourist office—when had he left?—looking like a lost puppy. A lost, _wet_ puppy.

"Dare I ask?"

"Raining." Jack pouted as Ianto let him through into the Hub. "Roads are blocked."

"Are you alright?" Ianto frowned; Jack looked more than cold and miserable. He looked devastated.

"My plans are ruined." Jack looked at him helplessly. He took off his greatcoat and hung it over one arm, and tried to brush his soggy hair back from his forehead. "I'm sorry."

Ianto took the coat from him and hung it on the coatrack behind his desk. "What for?"

"Your birthday."

"My what?"

"Your birthday." If it was possible, Jack became even more disappointed. "I wanted to take you to the new restaurant by the beach. Reserved the table and everything. I know when he passed it last month, you said it would be out of your budget, but I thought it might be nice for us to spend your birthday together. But now the road's destroyed—and I already checked the alternate routes—and the restaurant's flooded, so that's out of the question."

"That's…"

"Ruined, now." And before Ianto could stop him, Jack trailed away down the stairs.

.oOo.

 _Well_ , Ianto sat at the desk and watched the heavy rain beat on the windows. _That was unexpected._

Not Jack being romantic, not at all—although the lie-in, the breakfast, the door-holding, the bowing, and the restaurant were pleasant surprises, as well as incredibly flattering—but the fact that he'd forgotten his own birthday.

Ianto laughed.

Jack's footprints had spread into large puddles and the wind was periodically blowing the door open, but that was alright. Ianto flipped the 'Open' sign to 'Closed' and locked the door before getting a mop.

He felt excited in a way he hadn't been since he had been a child, waiting for presents and feeling like the man of the day. There was a certain giddiness that came with passing a new year, and when he finished mopping up rainwater, be began to feel it in earnest.

.oOo.

When he came down to the Hub, it was evening and the rest of the team had already left (or they'd never come in, and the nap he'd taken at the desk upstairs had been longer than he thought). The light in Jack's office was on and the door was open, so Ianto took that as his cue to come inside.

Jack, wearing a simple t-shirt and trousers, his hair still wet, was sitting at his desk. He looked up when he heard Ianto come in, and his mouth split open into a smile.

"What time is it?" Ianto walked over and sat on the desk.

Jack took his hand. He smiled wider when Ianto absentmindedly began playing with his fingers. "Eight? Maybe eight-thirty? I know I left you upstairs about a half-hour ago, so somewhere in that ballpark."

"So we can go home?"

"Nowhere else to go." Jack looked guilty again and sighed.

"I forgot it was my birthday, you know." Ianto continued playing with Jack's fingers despite the surprise on Jack's face. "You know why? And I thought about it, so it's not just some cock-and-bull story."

"Alright, why?"

"Didn't really celebrate it before."

"Before?" Jack wondered. "And now?"

"Now it's a celebration of the passing of time. I'm here, you're here… you're here with me, which is pretty good." Ianto paused and hesitantly asked, "It _is_ pretty good, isn't it?"

"Yes, Ianto," Jack nodded. "It's pretty good."

"So let's go home." Ianto stood up and tugged Jack into doing so as well. "There's no restaurant, and I'm sure that the weather's probably come through the Rift, but I think we can do a quick pizza from the dough you make last week and there're some muffins left over from that cafe we went to."

"That's…" Jack beamed. He grabbed his braces and button-down from the chair they had been thrown onto. "That's a brilliant idea. And you, Ianto Jones, are a brilliant man."

.oOo.

"Happy birthday, Ianto!" Jack shouted, laughing, as they ran through the rain to his personal SUV. The statement had come from the moment, and he wasn't sure if Ianto had actually heard him.

He was cold and breathless and wet, and so was the man beside him, but they were both smiling when they got to the car. Jack fumbled for his keys, getting them in on the third try. He cranked up the heating and sped away.

Ianto looked over at him, and Jack looked at him before he could look away. Gentler, this time, content, Jack smiled at him. "Happy birthday, Ianto."


End file.
